Gu Liyue suddenly raised her head and looked at Qi Manyan in disbelief. Looking at the angry yet proud glint on her face, she couldn't help but ask, "Did you arrange what happened to Xu Nian?"
Qi Manyan burst into laughter. "You're not completely stupid. You've finally figured it out? Yes, apart from Lu Jinchen, no one in this world knows that Xu Nian is still alive. Xu Nian is Lu Jinchen's adoptive father. Of course, I had to tell everyone. Gu Liyue, if I can't have something, I'd rather destroy it than let it go to someone else!"
Gu Liyue felt a bit desolate. "Lu Jinchen is already dead! He's dead, and you still won't let him go?"
"So what if he's dead?" A strange smile spread across Qi Manyan's face. "Even if he's dead, I'll make him fall into the dust. I'll make him the most despicable person. I'll let everyone know that I'm the smart one. I didn't choose him because he was unworthy! His handsome appearance has vanished from this world, and his noble status was all fake!"
Gu Liyue looked at her coldly. "Did you kill Lu Jinchen?"
Qi Manyan gave her a disdainful look. "I'm not the one who wanted him dead. But you should thank me. If it weren't for me, Lu Jinchen would be just a pile of bones by now."
Gu Liyue's eyes lit up. "He's still alive. He's really still alive? He's not dead?"
"How could I let him die so easily? I want him to live a life worse than death. I want him to submit to me for the rest of his life!"
Gu Liyue lowered her eyes. Her heart was filled with joy. She was really overjoyed. Before, she had always been praying, praying for a miracle, praying that Lu Jinchen was still alive. Now that she heard it was true, she couldn't hold back her excitement any longer.
How could Qi Manyan not see Gu Liyue's expression? She gritted her teeth. "You're happy too soon. Even if he's still alive, all that awaits him is something even more difficult!"
"As long as a person is alive, that's good," Gu Liyue smiled slightly. "As long as one is alive, there's hope. As long as one is alive... one can move forward."
Qi Manyan was in a daze for a moment, as if touched by something. She kind of understood why so many people liked the girl in front of her.
But this touch only made her feel worse. She said in a low voice, "Maybe, without Lu Jinchen, we could have been friends."
Gu Liyue shook her head. "No. Even without him, we wouldn't be friends. Miss Qi, you think too highly of yourself. How could a girl like me ever be friends with you?"
Qi Manyan paused for a moment and actually thought Gu Liyue made sense. She looked up at Gu Liyue. "Aren't you scared?"
Gu Liyue nodded. "I'm scared. I think I'll probably die soon. You probably won't even let me see him one last time."
Qi Manyan giggled. "You're really smart. I want him to live in regret and pain for the rest of his life. I've tasted the pain of loving someone but not being able to have them too many times. I want him to taste it too... And as for you, how could I let you live? Gu Liyue, I hate you. I hate you so much. How dare you take away what belongs to me?"
Gu Liyue slowly relaxed. Since Qi Manyan came here, they had talked for a long time, but Qi Manyan not only didn't kill her but didn't even lay a finger on her. No matter what Qi Manyan was going to do, at least for now, she was out of danger.
She thought for a while and asked, "Can you tell me where this is?"
"Still hoping someone will come to rescue you? I'll tell you, no one will ever know about this place, and no one will ever come to rescue you—unless Lu Jinchen comes himself."
Gu Liyue asked, "So, you'll let Lu Jinchen come here?"
Qi Manyan got agitated. Gu Liyue was smarter than she thought. She got even angrier. Why was this nobody of a girl so smart?
"Slap!"
Qi Manyan impulsively stood up and slapped Gu Liyue hard across the face.
Blood trickled down the corner of Gu Liyue's mouth, but she didn't show any sign of pain.
Qi Manyan got even angrier when she saw this. She slapped her three more times in a row and asked hatefully, "Doesn't it hurt? Why don't you cry? Why don't you beg for mercy?"
Gu Liyue frowned and endured the pain on her cheek. She knew that if she cried and begged for mercy, it would only make Qi Manyan act like a wolf that smelled blood. Qi Manyan would only get more excited and enjoy the abuse even more.
Right now, she hardly had any chance of getting away. But she could buy some time. Since her elder brother had already noticed Qi Manyan's actions, he would never just sit back and do nothing. As long as she could hold on for as long as possible, her elder brother would surely come to rescue her.
She raised her head, her face still calm. "It hurts, Qi Manyan. Have you ever been beaten?"
Qi Manyan paused for a moment.
Gu Liyue continued, "When I was a child, I was often beaten. During the day, I had to do housework and other jobs. At night, I secretly lit a lamp to work so I could earn a little more money to buy writing brushes and ink for Feng Lanqing. Once, I worked too late at night. The next day, I was so sleepy while lighting the fire that I almost fell into the stove. Fortunately, Aunt Yun came back early, or else..."
Qi Manyan was shocked. She had grown up in the capital city and had never done any rough work. How could she have ever experienced such a scare?
"But just because of that, the rice in the pot burned. My aunt gave me three hard slaps... It hurt so much."
Qi Manyan's hands trembled. "Didn't you fight back?"
Gu Liyue shook her head. "Fighting back was useless. I even cried secretly in Aunt Yun's arms in the middle of the night."
Qi Manyan pursed her lips and lowered her head. It was a long time before she asked, "You were so good to him, but he betrayed you. Aren't you willing to accept it?"
"Why not?" Gu Liyue thought for a while. "At that time, I seemed to be relieved. I was relieved that he and Liu Qinting didn't kill me. I was also relieved that I found out what a terrifying wolf my fiancé was before I got married."
Qi Manyan's voice was full of grievance. "But you were so good to him. You said you worked at night to earn money for his studies. But he treated you like this. Why are you willing to accept it? You... you don't even love him!"
"Of course I don't love him. I was so young back then. I didn't even know what love was. I just stupidly thought that since he was going to be my husband, I should think about him. Love... Can poor people have love?"
Qi Manyan was completely stunned. She had done everything she could for Lu Jinchen, just hoping that he would look at her one more time, one more time. But the pain of such unrequited love was so lightly described by Gu Liyue? How was that possible?
"That's because you met Lu Jinchen. Lu Jinchen is a thousand times better than your fiancé!"
Gu Liyue still calmly nodded. "Yes. He's like the bright moon. No one in this world can compare to him. I love him, but I never thought that he loved me too. I thought our relationship was just a passing encounter. I didn't expect that he also had feelings for me. I'm very grateful. I'm grateful to the heavens for letting me meet such a wonderful gentleman."
Qi Manyan burst into tears and covered her face, sobbing.
Gu Liyue's cheek still hurt. She looked at Qi Manyan and slowly asked, "Can you tell me how you two met?"